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Assad's mother leaves Syria

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

A family picture dated 1985 shows Syria's late president Hafez al-Assad and his wife Anisa Makhluf (seated) and, behind them from right to left, their five children: Bushra, Majd, Bassel, Syrian President Bashar, and Maher. Photo: AFP

﻿﻿﻿Anisa Makhluf, the mother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has left the war-torn country and joined her daughter in Dubai, expatriates in the United Arab Emirates and an activist say.

Ms Makhluf has been living next to her daughter, Bushra, Dr Assad's only sister, in Dubai for about 10 days, Syrian expatriates said.

Bushra’s husband, General Assef Shawkat, an army deputy chief of staff, was killed along with three other high-ranking Syrian officials in a July 18 bombing at the National Security headquarters in Damascus.

In September, Syrian residents in the Gulf emirate said that Bushra had enrolled her five children at a private school in Dubai where she had moved.

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Ms Makhluf’s ‘‘departure from Syria is another indication of Assad losing support even from within his family'', said Ayman Abdel Nour, head of the newly-formed group Syrian Christians for Democracy and editor-in-chief of opposition news website all4syria.com.

Analysts say that Dr Assad is increasingly relying on the tightly-knit circle surrounding him, which includes his only living brother Maher, who commands the army’s notorious Fourth Brigade.

Dr Assad’s two other brothers, Bassel and Majd, both died before the current conflict.

The embattled president also relies on relatives from his mother’s side, analysts say.

A large number of businessmen and wealthy Syrians who had close ties with the regime have fled the deadly bloodshed in Syria to Dubai in the past few months.

More than 60,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria’s 22-month conflict, according to the United Nations.The conflict has seen some 600,000 people flee the country, most of them to neighbouring countries, according to the world body.